How effective is Chinese Air Force in electronic warfare

ahho

Junior Member
Now, we have been talking about Chinese fighter, airlift, trainer and AWACS, but there seem to be little discussion on Chinese Electronic Warfare. After watching a video on what the West have, this question came to my mind is what bird does the Chinese have that are dedicated to electronic warfare and any news on how effective they are.
 

paintgun

Senior Member
not sure on the effectiveness, but PLAAF is actively pursuing EW on many fronts, fighter carried pods (J-11, JH-7, J-10), various AEW aircrafts (KJ-200, KJ-2000, Y-8 series), EW helos (Z-8, Ka-31, Z-9), ground based EW infrastructure/vehicles, and last but not least naval based EW capabilities
 

Blitzo

Lieutenant General
Staff member
Super Moderator
Registered Member
Well we know PLAAF has some 42 GX Y-8 aircraft. Discounting the ones which we know are definitely AEW&C/MPA, that leaves some ~20 potential ELINT/ECM/Psychwarfare/battle management type aircraft, of which 8 are likely to be long range jammers. Which is quite a decent, dedicated array of aircraft for EW. PLAAF/PLANAF don't seem to have many "in theatre" jammers like EA-8/18 or EF-111, but more "stand off" with their GX Y-8s.

Of course we all know JH-7/As have been seen equipped with EW pods of different sorts but no one knows how common place they are or are used. Beyond that, we cannot know how "effective" the PLAAF is in EW or even what kind of platforms could be equipped for the role given a lot of it is internal.

But I'd expect PLAAF, along with the rest of the PLA to be advancing very quickly in this arena compared to others given their leaps in electronics, as well as occasional news on exercises being conducted under greater and greater EW conditions (for all arms). And we all heard supposedly a few months back of PLA J-10s intercepting and "locking on" to VPAF MK2s while the flankers were supposedly helpless from PLAAF jamming.
 

escobar

Brigadier
PLA take electronic warfare very seriously. they don't forget that in 1996 a USN growler cripped the nanjing military region. it is a general with 4 stars who is in charge of electronic warfare operation.
 

Blitzo

Lieutenant General
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PLA take electronic warfare very seriously. they don't forget that in 1996 a USN growler cripped the nanjing military region. it is a general with 4 stars who is in charge of electronic warfare operation.

Yeah PLA's had their own experience on the wrong side of EW, though I'm still astounded and a bit skeptical at that claim. And I think you mean prowler. The Growler only entered service a few years ago lul..
 

plawolf

Lieutenant General
Electronic warfare is a 'black art' even amongst the west, and very little about it is made public.

The PLA seems to be giving EW extremely high priority, as I cannot remember the last time the PLA conducted any sort of drill or exercise where strong EW interference was not simulated.

The PLA has put a great deal of effort and resources into their EW. They would have definitely benefited from having access to the Russian EW gear supplied with their various Flanker purchases, and it was likely that the Israelis might have pass along some tips before the Americans put their foot down the the Falcon deal, and maybe even afterwards for all we know.

And lets not forget that PLA scientists must have had a field day when that EP3 came down in Hainan. I know it's not a dedicated jammer, but the two are close enough that access to that airplane is likely to have greatly benefitted China's EW efforts.

The PLA now have dedicated jammer versions of the Y8, and we have seen pictures of JH7s testing out what could only be a comprehensive tactical jamming pod suit similar to what the Growlers are sporting.

But the main thing is, that is about all we can tell from appearances, but it's what is under the hood that makes all the difference, and we are not likely to know that for another few decades, if ever.

I also find the prowler story very dubious and hard to believe. Did anyone live near Nanjing during this incident? If there really was aggressive jamming by prowlers powerful enough to cripple the military grade communications of the entire Nanjing MR, what must it have done to the civilian stuff?

I also think that the Vietnamese Su30 story, even if true, would not be the most objective evaluation of the PLA's EW capabilities.

The Vietnamese bought pretty much the same Flankers as the PLAAF. That meant that the PLAAF would have had extensive experience and knowledge of both how the Vietnamese Flankers EW suit worked, but also figured out how to counter it with their own EW exercises.

It is similar to how the Israelis were able to so effectively jam the Arab SAMs after they had time to get a few examples and study them; why the US and western powers are so keen on getting their mitts on the latest Soviet/Russian systems, and also why China is so keen on replacing the equipment on their J11s and Russian supplied Su27s with home grown equipment.

However, since the PLA is almost certain to not have actual examples current US or western frontline jamming kit, I dare say they will not be able to do so well trying to jam US or western types.

But the thing is, Chinese avionics and radars are advancing so rapidly, and are indigenously developed, so the western powers probably have very little idea of what the PLA is capable of either. Thus it is pretty much impossible to predict how a EW showdown would end between the PLAAF and a western power, so the issue is usually ignored. Not the most logical or realistic thing to do, but its the best we can manage with what little we know.
 

i.e.

Senior Member
EP-3 is the inverse of the jammer.

same as Y-8GaoXing, half of the GaoXing series is dedicated to collecting Elint.

In time of conflict those who has signal intelligence collection capability will react quicker.
 

plawolf

Lieutenant General
I thought we were talking about EW and not just jamming. Having the ability to effectively collect and analyse enemy signials and emissions is a pre-requisit to being able to effectively jam it.

This is even more true these days as LPI radars become more common.

But the biggest boon from the EP3 is that it would have helped the PLA to know what the best American signal collection capabilities were. This would have allowed them to both better avoid their own signals being picked up and analysed by others in peace time and helped them to better collect signals or potential hostile during peace time. All of which might make a massive difference if it really came to war.

What we need to remember is that a large part of EW is decided in peace time, before a single shot has been fired in a conflict.
 

siegecrossbow

General
Staff member
Super Moderator
I also find the prowler story very dubious and hard to believe. Did anyone live near Nanjing during this incident? If there really was aggressive jamming by prowlers powerful enough to cripple the military grade communications of the entire Nanjing MR, what must it have done to the civilian stuff?

I lived in Nanjing in 96. Don't recall anything weird happening but I might've been at school when something like that happened. Either way no one talked about it.
 

AssassinsMace

Lieutenant General
Wasn't the story that the aircraft flew over China? If so I highly doubt that would've happened without a word of protest. That's only five years before the Hainan incident where it was all about accusations of violations of airspace. China didn't know when it was happening? They didn't send fighters to intercept? A lot of question about just appropriate reactions that didn't happen puts it into question.
 
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